Seasons

I agree about tha value of human life, Ulrike, but I think even that can be an issue. The question "who's life?" comes to mind. I think most of us tend to be very concerned with our own lives, and that is where moral problems come into play.

From a individual standpoint, when resources are finite there is a tendency to want to hoard them for myself and my family. When they are plentiful, I still want the most and the best for me and mine. This ensures our survival and our comfort.

From a universal stand point, it makes sense to want the greatest good for the greatest number. It is hard, however, to stop thinking about ourselves and move into a mode of thinking about universal good. So we attach value--because altrustic behavior is a kind of luxury from the ego's point of view.

If it's all about survival and passing on our own DNA, then it is unlikely we can ever move into a "universal" morality. If we are all connected to a greater whole (or religion) that is a different matter, because then the self only exists within the whole and what is good for the whole is good for the self. I am not saying we need religion to stop us from killing each other, but I do think true religion provides us with a perspective which will natually cause us to act in accordance with our awareness of our connections (and therefore universal good).

I know this is not my call, but I also think Eugene should feel welcome to comment. What's the purpose of discussing things if we are going to limit what people can say?

bev as all terry pratchett readers know such as ourselves that life was an accident. and well a lot of logic can me made from terrys work. and creates extremely likely theorys about the universe

and stuff in general..................and yes i am gullible:O

well for those offend by my handle you can rest assured that I am single and not in a relationship anymore, not seeing anyone but yet I still consider myself to be a lesbian. And guess what many churches don't care if you lable yourself a lesbian as long as you don't act on your feelings. and as for being asked not to say anything-so sue me.

I am a b@tch and proud of it.

But the colonel720 does have a point. Once you start allowing things that orignially were consider immorral does have a tendency to slide down a slippery slop. So as a society we have to be very careful what areas we are going to allow to slide.

down slides? weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
or are you talking metaphorically?

one area in paticular that bothers me is the recent court decsions in america and in england that allowed someone who was in a supposed vegative condition to die. Assisted sucide is another area that needs to be watched as once you allow that it is not a very far jump to deciding that certain persons should be killed because we don't think that their quality of life is good enough.

d the novice yes meta whatever.

well said, ladydyke (not just because you support my ideals)

Oh yeah, Bev and Eugene Say what you want.. I was just trying to avoid slipping back into that whole "does god exist" discussion, as inevitably almost every topic will lead there if discussed for long enough, and the "does god exist topic is so deadend and controversial, that discussing it will get us absolutely nowhere.

metaphorical not meta whatever although ehhhhh lets change the subject

lol...The only comment I was going to make was that having God as a source of moral absolutes doesn't necessarily mean that you only do what is right out of fear. Think of it this way -- does everyone only obey traffic laws because you are afraid of getting a ticket?